ATO warns over-claiming is easier to detect than ever

In relation to 2014/15 individual income tax returns to be lodged this year, the ATO says it will be focusing on:

• unusually high work-related expense claims across all industries and occupations;

• expenses claimed that have already been reimbursed by employers; and

• claims for private expenses such as travel from home to work.

It said that the ATO’s ability to identify and investigate claims that differ from the ‘norm’ is improving each year at a rapid rate. Every return is scrutinised and it is becoming a lot easier to identify claims that are significantly higher than those claimed by people with similar occupations and employment income